AHS Asbestos PPC Strategy — Budget & Performance
Overview
AHS (Madison Asbestos & Hazardous Services) runs a multi-campaign Google Ads account covering asbestos remediation, mold, and lead paint services, supplemented by Microsoft Ads. As of the October 2025 review, the account is performing well — described internally as one of Asymmetric's stronger client accounts — with calls and lead forms generating across all active campaigns.
This article documents the current campaign structure, performance benchmarks, and the rationale behind the November 2025 budget reallocation.
See also: [1] | [2]
Campaign Structure
| Campaign | Daily Budget | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Asbestos (Google) | $20/day | Restored from $15 after news-driven demand spike |
| Lead Paint (Google) | $5/day | New campaign; low competition, low click volume |
| PMAX | (included in above) | Primary lead form driver |
| Display | (included in above) | Asbestos + mold calls |
| Microsoft Ads | ~$72/month spend | Supplemental; not spending full budget |
Budget History
- Asbestos campaign originally ran at $10/day, raised to $20/day as account matured
- $5 was reallocated from asbestos to seed the new lead paint campaign, dropping asbestos to $15/day
- In November 2025, asbestos budget was restored to $20/day to capitalize on increased public discussion around asbestos (see rationale below); lead paint remains at $5/day funded separately
Performance Metrics (October 2025 Snapshot)
Note: Some numbers in this period reflect a four-day tracking anomaly and may read slightly high. Segmented by conversion type.
PMAX Campaign
- ~30 lead forms submitted during the review period
- Primary driver of top-of-funnel lead volume
Display Campaign
- 7 total conversions
- 2 asbestos phone calls
- 5 mold phone calls
- 2 email contacts
Lead Paint Campaign
- 2 clicks — low volume expected given low competition in the auction
- Running at $5/day; AHS appears to be the primary (or only) advertiser in this space locally
- Cheap clicks; campaign is in early ramp phase
Microsoft Ads
- $72 spent over 30 days (well under budget cap)
- 2 conversions recorded
- High click-through and interaction rates relative to spend
- Positioned as a supplemental channel — low cost, meaningful signal, worth maintaining alongside Google Ads
News-Driven Budget Optimization
Rationale
In late October 2025, asbestos became a topic of elevated public discussion due to a politically charged news story (demolition of a building without proper asbestos abatement procedures). Gina Richardson flagged this via a Google Alerts-style digest she receives weekly.
Key strategic decision: Increase asbestos campaign visibility to capture users entering the search funnel due to heightened awareness — without engaging with the political angle of the story.
"My thought was, since people are talking about asbestos, let's get them more with asbestos." — Gina Richardson
"I don't want to get involved with anything political for us, for sure." — Bob Stigsell
Action Taken
- Asbestos daily budget raised from $15 → $20
- No political targeting, no blog content tied to the news story
- Focus remains on service-intent keywords (inspection, removal, evaluation)
Keyword & Messaging Notes
- AHS does not perform asbestos testing — copy must use "inspection" or "evaluation" instead of "testing"
- Service area language: "Madison and Southern Wisconsin" or "Dane County and surrounding areas" (avoid implying Milwaukee coverage)
- Vermiculite-specific: in Wisconsin, vermiculite contains asbestos (not "may contain") — this distinction matters for ad copy accuracy
Competitive Context
- Lead paint auction: AHS is currently the only or near-only competitor showing ads, which explains low click volume but also means low CPCs when clicks do occur
- Asbestos auction: more competitive; higher budget justified to maintain share of voice
Recommendations & Patterns
- Microsoft Ads is worth keeping active even at low spend — $72/month for 2 conversions is strong efficiency for a supplemental channel
- News cycles can be a budget trigger — monitor Google Alerts or similar for asbestos-related spikes and be ready to temporarily increase daily caps
- Avoid political adjacency — even when public interest is high, keep messaging focused on service need, not the news event
- Lead paint is a long-term play — low competition now, but worth seeding early to build Quality Score and history before competition increases
- PMAX is the volume engine — 30 lead forms in a short window suggests the campaign is well-optimized; protect this budget allocation
Related
- [1]
- [2]
- [3]
- [4]